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Doctor Who: The Shakespeare Notebooks
Many people know about William Shakespeare's famous encounter with the Doctor at the Globe Theatre in 1599. But what few people know (though many have suspected) is that it was not the first time they met.
Drawn from recently discovered archives, The Shakespeare Notebooks is the holy grail for Bard scholars: conclusive proof that the Doctor not only appeared throughout Shakespeare's life but also had a significant impact on his writing. In these pages you'll find early drafts of scenes and notes for characters that never appeared in the plays; discarded lines of dialogue and sonnets; never-before-seen journal entries; and much more.
From the original notes for Hamlet (with a very different appearance by the ghost) and revealing early versions of the faeries of A Midsummer Night's Dream to strange stage directions revised to remove references to a mysterious blue box, The Shakespeare Notebooks is an astonishing document that offers a unique insight into the mind of one of history's most respected and admired figures. And also, of course, William Shakespeare.
Drawn from recently discovered archives, The Shakespeare Notebooks is the holy grail for Bard scholars: conclusive proof that the Doctor not only appeared throughout Shakespeare's life but also had a significant impact on his writing. In these pages you'll find early drafts of scenes and notes for characters that never appeared in the plays; discarded lines of dialogue and sonnets; never-before-seen journal entries; and much more.
From the original notes for Hamlet (with a very different appearance by the ghost) and revealing early versions of the faeries of A Midsummer Night's Dream to strange stage directions revised to remove references to a mysterious blue box, The Shakespeare Notebooks is an astonishing document that offers a unique insight into the mind of one of history's most respected and admired figures. And also, of course, William Shakespeare.
218 pages, Hardcover
First published June 12, 2014
About the author
Justin Richards
306 books229 followersJustin Richards is a British writer. He has written many spin off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and he is Creative Director for the BBC Books range. He has also written for television, contributing to Five's soap opera Family Affairs. He is also the author of a series of crime novels for children about the Invisible Detective, and novels for older children. His Doctor Who novel The Burning was placed sixth in the Top 10 of SFX magazine's "Best SF/Fantasy novelisation or TV tie-in novel" category of 2000.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
February 22, 2015
I received a copy of this book for free from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Also posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.
I really wanted to like this book. I really did. It has such promise – after all, any Doctor Who fan knows that the Doctor has met many a historical figure on his travels. In fact, those are often my favourite episodes of the show – not the ones where he travels to the future, but where he goes back in time and we get to see recognisable figures from history.
I do believe, however, that this book will be a much more enjoyable read in hardback or paperback format. I read the eARC, which I highly doubt did it justice. Judging by the illustrations, which of course were in black and white for me, the book is very nicely presented. What I did like was how it didn’t just focus on the ‘new’ Doctor, but all of his other faces, and brought in companions old and new as well. Those who remember the times of Jamie and Zoe, as well as newer fans of Amy and Rory, will be happy.
Unfortunately, I think this book suffers from having a rather niche audience. Sure, it will appeal to Doctor Who fans, but ironically the Shakespeare element of it won’t work for all. Ultimately to me, it felt a little like an attempt to cash in on the ever-popular ‘crossover’ book, mixing characters from different fandoms (if you can refer to Shakespeare as such!).
As much as I love Doctor Who, and as much as I like to read anything about it that I can get my hands on, this sadly did not work for me. It feels more like the sort of book an ultimate fan would buy to complete their collection – it’s not one I can see myself reading again, unlike the adventure story series about the Doctor.
I really wanted to like this book. I really did. It has such promise – after all, any Doctor Who fan knows that the Doctor has met many a historical figure on his travels. In fact, those are often my favourite episodes of the show – not the ones where he travels to the future, but where he goes back in time and we get to see recognisable figures from history.
I do believe, however, that this book will be a much more enjoyable read in hardback or paperback format. I read the eARC, which I highly doubt did it justice. Judging by the illustrations, which of course were in black and white for me, the book is very nicely presented. What I did like was how it didn’t just focus on the ‘new’ Doctor, but all of his other faces, and brought in companions old and new as well. Those who remember the times of Jamie and Zoe, as well as newer fans of Amy and Rory, will be happy.
Unfortunately, I think this book suffers from having a rather niche audience. Sure, it will appeal to Doctor Who fans, but ironically the Shakespeare element of it won’t work for all. Ultimately to me, it felt a little like an attempt to cash in on the ever-popular ‘crossover’ book, mixing characters from different fandoms (if you can refer to Shakespeare as such!).
As much as I love Doctor Who, and as much as I like to read anything about it that I can get my hands on, this sadly did not work for me. It feels more like the sort of book an ultimate fan would buy to complete their collection – it’s not one I can see myself reading again, unlike the adventure story series about the Doctor.
March 20, 2024
Are you a fan of Dr. Who? This book will have a certain appeal to long time fans of Dr. Who; it is a light-hearted, entertaining, whimsical read. I'm a longtime fan of the Dr. Who TV series, have never read any Dr. Who books.
When I saw this little book at a Dollar Tree store I just had to buy it. Not something I would seek out to read but just as an amusing novelty. The story is formated as Shakespear's notebook and contains the "never before seen" documentation by Dr Who. Several iterations of Dr. Who are presented as the notes unfold along with his female companion of the era: Zoe, Rose, Susan, etc. Also, evidence of the TARDIS in each of Shakespear's plays is demonstrated! The Doctor's occult influence on the writings of Shakepeare is whimsical, fun, and yes....timeless.
When I saw this little book at a Dollar Tree store I just had to buy it. Not something I would seek out to read but just as an amusing novelty. The story is formated as Shakespear's notebook and contains the "never before seen" documentation by Dr Who. Several iterations of Dr. Who are presented as the notes unfold along with his female companion of the era: Zoe, Rose, Susan, etc. Also, evidence of the TARDIS in each of Shakespear's plays is demonstrated! The Doctor's occult influence on the writings of Shakepeare is whimsical, fun, and yes....timeless.
October 11, 2014
Fun, but not fantastic.
In it's defense, it was never supposed to be anything but a lark - a whole book of excerpts from Shakespeare plays interpolated and bastardized with a bunch of Doctor Who references? This is not a complete story, rather a an audit class in Shakespeare, and sprinkled throughout are the Doctor (in many incarnations, some repeating, and some you have to carefully look for), the Master, the Ponds, Donna, Peri, Jaime and Zoe and others from the show, along with Julius Caesar, Alexander Pope, Christopher Marlowe and other folks from history. Plots from classic Who are reinterpreted as Shakespeare plays, and in-jokes abound. Puns rule the endpieces and this is, essentially, a 200+ page joke about the relationship of two things that form part of the fabric of being British.
You do kind of have to know your Shakespeare to enjoy parts of this. Lots of the histories (as would be expected) and less of the more recently and oft adapated - Hamlet, the Scottish Play, Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer's are still here in parts, though.
Not for everyone, but fun.
In it's defense, it was never supposed to be anything but a lark - a whole book of excerpts from Shakespeare plays interpolated and bastardized with a bunch of Doctor Who references? This is not a complete story, rather a an audit class in Shakespeare, and sprinkled throughout are the Doctor (in many incarnations, some repeating, and some you have to carefully look for), the Master, the Ponds, Donna, Peri, Jaime and Zoe and others from the show, along with Julius Caesar, Alexander Pope, Christopher Marlowe and other folks from history. Plots from classic Who are reinterpreted as Shakespeare plays, and in-jokes abound. Puns rule the endpieces and this is, essentially, a 200+ page joke about the relationship of two things that form part of the fabric of being British.
You do kind of have to know your Shakespeare to enjoy parts of this. Lots of the histories (as would be expected) and less of the more recently and oft adapated - Hamlet, the Scottish Play, Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer's are still here in parts, though.
Not for everyone, but fun.
October 29, 2014
The ideal reader will be well versed in both Shakespeare and Doctor Who, including Classic Who. This book is comparable to The Empire Striketh Back or The Jedi Doth Return.
Uneven, some parts being better than others. Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest were my favorites.
Uneven, some parts being better than others. Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest were my favorites.
July 26, 2014
There are a few off notes for me in this volume (the Sonnets, the visit to Tara, the overly-dense critique of "Julius Caesar"), but the remainder is nothing short of comic brilliance. There's far too much to choose from, but some of that brilliance includes: the 6th Doctor's verse about Peri in "As You Like It", Romana busting out in "Pericles", the utterly bonkers and hilarious Sontaran/Vortis mash up that just rips up "Midsummer Night's Dream", the final short story about Shakespeare's best bed...
In short, you need only a passing familiarity with Shakespeare to enjoy this novel, but combine that with a fan's knowledge of "Doctor Who", and the end result is comic gold.
In short, you need only a passing familiarity with Shakespeare to enjoy this novel, but combine that with a fan's knowledge of "Doctor Who", and the end result is comic gold.
August 18, 2015
*3.5 stars!
This book is so fun and entertaining! Reading it right now was perfect because I'm going to read some Shakespeare in preparation for uni and also Doctor Who starts back in a month!
I did skim read over the sections on plays I haven't read yet because there's such small little detailed jokes you only understand if you've read the play. My favourite sections were Macbeth and The Tempest notes and overall this was really fun!
This book is so fun and entertaining! Reading it right now was perfect because I'm going to read some Shakespeare in preparation for uni and also Doctor Who starts back in a month!
I did skim read over the sections on plays I haven't read yet because there's such small little detailed jokes you only understand if you've read the play. My favourite sections were Macbeth and The Tempest notes and overall this was really fun!
May 31, 2021
Meh. Depends on if you enjoy reading plays written in Middle English, which it turns out I don’t.
August 18, 2017
I'm with most other reviewers on this one in that I thought this book was cool, but not fantastic. Though I enjoyed many of the parodies of Shakespeare, I've seen it done better. I felt I could appreciate many of the Doctor Who in-jokes (being a moderate fan of the show), and the links made between the two, but they didn't make me jump out of my seat in pure fangirling-this-is-utter-genius-excitement very often. The parts I most enjoyed were the least clever I suppose - the ones playing out like an actual Doctor Who episode with the Doctor and his companions thrown into this altered time and either trying to figure out what the hell is going on or otherwise fix some complicated time-problem. The Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet stories hence were my favourites, the others being just too random, obscure, or at odds with my personal taste for me to really appreciate - both in their humour and the content they were inspired by, intermittently.
So yeah, from my standpoint I think this book would have been better if the authors had just simplified - left the classic Doctor Who format to work its nostalgic magic while playing with some much-loved scenes of Shakespeare, and casting them both in a new light. I do admire their creativity for shooting instead for a casebook of varied supposed-Shakespeare documents, but for me that didn't quite hit the mark. Still, an interesting read with some superb moments and quotes hidden inside it.
So yeah, from my standpoint I think this book would have been better if the authors had just simplified - left the classic Doctor Who format to work its nostalgic magic while playing with some much-loved scenes of Shakespeare, and casting them both in a new light. I do admire their creativity for shooting instead for a casebook of varied supposed-Shakespeare documents, but for me that didn't quite hit the mark. Still, an interesting read with some superb moments and quotes hidden inside it.
May 8, 2019
This is a really fun book that will appeal to Whovians who also enjoy Shakespeare. It does have a lot of Classic Who references, which sometimes threw me off since I've only ever seen "NuWho." However, I don't consider that a bad thing! In fact, it was fun to read about Doctors 1-8. I'd be reading one particular "Whovianized" play, and all of a sudden realize, "OH, this is Tom Baker!" Or "OH, wait a sec, this is Peter Davison!"
Sadly, for me, this was published before the Twelfth Doctor and Clara's adventures aired on television for the first time, so my favorite Doctor and companion didn't get a chance to shine in the Shakespearean glory. Nevertheless, "Romeo and Juliet" now stars Eleven, Amy, and Rory, and the epilogue features Ten and Donna, so in the end I was quite pleased.
Sadly, for me, this was published before the Twelfth Doctor and Clara's adventures aired on television for the first time, so my favorite Doctor and companion didn't get a chance to shine in the Shakespearean glory. Nevertheless, "Romeo and Juliet" now stars Eleven, Amy, and Rory, and the epilogue features Ten and Donna, so in the end I was quite pleased.
January 19, 2023
The idea is sadly much better in theory than the book itself. I love Shakespeare (see Ruby Jand's 'Shakespeare Calling - the book') and I'm addicted to Doctor Who but despite some humorous bits the authors did not succeed in meshing the two as well as I had expected. My advice: read Shakespeare and see Doctor Who and love them both.
September 28, 2014
I received a free copy of this book by the book's publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I love both Doctor Who and Shakespeare so I thought this was going to be something which I would really enjoy. I'm not sure what I anticipated from the book, but to be brutally honest I was slightly disappointed. Though at first glance it may appear to be a children's book, that is something which it certainly is not. If you want to read this and enjoy it thoroughly you need to have at least a basic knowledge of Shakespeare plays and sonnets as well as the different incarnations of the Doctor and his various companions.
This is the kind of book that you certainly can't read in one sitting. Otherwise you might well end up with a headache reading when reading Shakespearian language and deciphering the story through it. Despite all this, it is quite enjoyable and I did laugh in quite a few places. I think what really put me off this book was the fact I couldn't read it in a day and had to pause frequently to prevent brain information overload.
The Shakespeare Code episode of Doctor Who is one of my personal favourites. Unfortunately this book just didn't live up to my expectations. I think I was hoping to see more focus placed upon how the Doctor influenced Shakespeare rather than re-workings of original Shakespearean plays and sonnets. It's still a good read, but there are some much better Doctor Who books out there.
I love both Doctor Who and Shakespeare so I thought this was going to be something which I would really enjoy. I'm not sure what I anticipated from the book, but to be brutally honest I was slightly disappointed. Though at first glance it may appear to be a children's book, that is something which it certainly is not. If you want to read this and enjoy it thoroughly you need to have at least a basic knowledge of Shakespeare plays and sonnets as well as the different incarnations of the Doctor and his various companions.
This is the kind of book that you certainly can't read in one sitting. Otherwise you might well end up with a headache reading when reading Shakespearian language and deciphering the story through it. Despite all this, it is quite enjoyable and I did laugh in quite a few places. I think what really put me off this book was the fact I couldn't read it in a day and had to pause frequently to prevent brain information overload.
The Shakespeare Code episode of Doctor Who is one of my personal favourites. Unfortunately this book just didn't live up to my expectations. I think I was hoping to see more focus placed upon how the Doctor influenced Shakespeare rather than re-workings of original Shakespearean plays and sonnets. It's still a good read, but there are some much better Doctor Who books out there.
August 16, 2014
I love the Doctor Who episode “The Shakespeare Code”, so I was interested when I heard about this book. On reading it, it is both brilliant and hilarious, but will probably appeal most to those who are both Doctor Who fans and Shakespeare fans.
The book is a collection of sonnets and scenes from plays, rewritten to include the different incarnations of the Doctor and his Companions. It really is amazing just how attracted aliens are to England–it’s a bigger tourist destination than Disney World!
It’s actually quite interesting seeing Shakespeare’s purported thought processes on some of the works–going through what he might have thought about as he was writing, the revisions to the works, and the ‘final’ drafts that were lost or changed for various reasons. Presumably he didn’t actually include all of the references to the Doctor–but then again, who knows? Many of the passages end with an unrelated quote that has been changed to include the Doctor, such as ��Friends, Daleks, Cybermen…”, “To reverse or not to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow?”, or “That which we call a Rose by any other name would still be Tyler.”
This is a great book if you have a liberal attitude towards historical correctness and a lively respect for Shakespeare as a popular storyteller instead of an old man in a ruff reciting dead words.
The book is a collection of sonnets and scenes from plays, rewritten to include the different incarnations of the Doctor and his Companions. It really is amazing just how attracted aliens are to England–it’s a bigger tourist destination than Disney World!
It’s actually quite interesting seeing Shakespeare’s purported thought processes on some of the works–going through what he might have thought about as he was writing, the revisions to the works, and the ‘final’ drafts that were lost or changed for various reasons. Presumably he didn’t actually include all of the references to the Doctor–but then again, who knows? Many of the passages end with an unrelated quote that has been changed to include the Doctor, such as ��Friends, Daleks, Cybermen…”, “To reverse or not to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow?”, or “That which we call a Rose by any other name would still be Tyler.”
This is a great book if you have a liberal attitude towards historical correctness and a lively respect for Shakespeare as a popular storyteller instead of an old man in a ruff reciting dead words.
July 21, 2016
I loved this, but I’m a Whovian and I love Shakespeare and I know many plays very well. I don’t know, but I don’t think this book would be as well liked by someone who likes either Shakespeare or “Doctor Who,” but not the other.
For instance, this has scenes from “Macbeth,” with the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe as the witches, then the murderers, who aren’t, and the Doctor does something to make Banquo look like a ghost, only to Macbeth. Then there are scenes with the Doctor and the Ponds making "Romeo and Juliet" into a delightful comedy. There is a vignette with the Doctor explaining to Donna why Shakespeare’s wife got his second best bed. The best bed is dangerous and on the TARDIS, naturally.
I bought this at Arcadia Books in Spring Green, WI for $15.99 according to the scan code on 7/12/16.
For instance, this has scenes from “Macbeth,” with the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe as the witches, then the murderers, who aren’t, and the Doctor does something to make Banquo look like a ghost, only to Macbeth. Then there are scenes with the Doctor and the Ponds making "Romeo and Juliet" into a delightful comedy. There is a vignette with the Doctor explaining to Donna why Shakespeare’s wife got his second best bed. The best bed is dangerous and on the TARDIS, naturally.
I bought this at Arcadia Books in Spring Green, WI for $15.99 according to the scan code on 7/12/16.
April 9, 2015
I enjoyed it, not as good as the series but very pleasant. The best part for me it was the romeo and juliet/ amy and rory story! I was just so happy to see my favs companions in my fav play. I also really like the midsummers night dream, the macbeth one and the notes on hamlets speech.
July 20, 2014
I wish there were more modern Doctors and more modern companions here, but the combination of two of my favorite things makes this automatically great.
August 29, 2014
Good, silly fun. Some of the ideas here would have made for a few good episodes.
November 21, 2014
I think you would have to be the ultimate Dr Who fan to get every reference in this book, and maybe a Shakespeare scholar to boot! Having said that, it was very enjoyable.
May 6, 2016
Really funny read! If you love Shakespeare and Doctor Who, this book is perfect ❤
July 10, 2016
Very imaginatively done with integrating the Doctor into many of Shakespeare's plays and life, the Shakespeare pastiches are well done.
September 16, 2016
Cute premise, cleverly done. If you are somewhat familiar with Shakespeare's plays, then this is definitely good for a laugh.
April 25, 2020
Much like the series that makes up half of the material of this book, it is best described as consistently inconsistent (a description I have to credit to a friend).
When the mixture of Shakespeare and Doctor Who works well, I think it works quite well and makes for an entertaining (and, yeah, very British read). But when that combination fails to really gel together, I think the pieces read like high school fan fiction written by someone I'd otherwise love to meet, someone genuinely excited by the stories Shakespeare told.
In addition to this lumpy mixture, I have to admit that my own overthinking might have ruined this book for me. Which is a strange thing to include in a book review, but an element of my experience with the book that I think needs to be explained.
So. What was I overthinking? Well, it was mostly:
How Doctor Who and Shakespeare interact within the fiction of this book.
And I found this so troubling because it was overthinking encouraged by the book itself. You see, some of the pieces in this book involve the Doctor and their companions being added into various Shakespeare plays and poems and others involve the Doctor interacting with Shakespeare or those who are studying his works long after he has died.
So does that mean that those insertions into the play and poems are the product of Shakespeare's imaginings around this character of the Doctor that the book's fiction establishes that he knew?
Or is the Doctor exerting some hitherto unknown Time Lord influence to get himself into parts of the plays (like the second Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe filling the more mysterious roles in Macbeth (the witches, the knockers, the murderers)) that Shakespeare wrote?
Or, seeing as how all of the plays the Doctor is inserted into have some basis in history or previous stories, is it supposed to be understood that Shakespeare had originally written these plays to show all of said histories or stories?
Given that such thoughts arose between pieces, I really think where this book fails most severely is not having a single unifying through-line (aside from, of course, what if Doctor Who was in Shakespeare?).
Though it could be written off at first glance as being pretty cheesy, I think that this book would have been vastly improved if all of the Doctor insertions were in the service of a larger plot, the shape of which could be seen through the ways in which the Doctor was added to the plays and ultimately answering "why?" with more than "just because." Plus, it's my theory that an earlier draft of such a plot existed since the final piece involving an idea-storing bed that Shakespeare left the Doctor could have been an awesome Macguffin, and the piece itself would have made an excellent final scene.
Anyway, despite all the words I've spent on this review, I can't really recommend this book. Maybe it just wasn't for me and a younger fan of Shakespeare and Doctor Who would adore it, but it just left me feeling like these two icons of British pop culture could be so much better brought together.
When the mixture of Shakespeare and Doctor Who works well, I think it works quite well and makes for an entertaining (and, yeah, very British read). But when that combination fails to really gel together, I think the pieces read like high school fan fiction written by someone I'd otherwise love to meet, someone genuinely excited by the stories Shakespeare told.
In addition to this lumpy mixture, I have to admit that my own overthinking might have ruined this book for me. Which is a strange thing to include in a book review, but an element of my experience with the book that I think needs to be explained.
So. What was I overthinking? Well, it was mostly:
How Doctor Who and Shakespeare interact within the fiction of this book.
And I found this so troubling because it was overthinking encouraged by the book itself. You see, some of the pieces in this book involve the Doctor and their companions being added into various Shakespeare plays and poems and others involve the Doctor interacting with Shakespeare or those who are studying his works long after he has died.
So does that mean that those insertions into the play and poems are the product of Shakespeare's imaginings around this character of the Doctor that the book's fiction establishes that he knew?
Or is the Doctor exerting some hitherto unknown Time Lord influence to get himself into parts of the plays (like the second Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe filling the more mysterious roles in Macbeth (the witches, the knockers, the murderers)) that Shakespeare wrote?
Or, seeing as how all of the plays the Doctor is inserted into have some basis in history or previous stories, is it supposed to be understood that Shakespeare had originally written these plays to show all of said histories or stories?
Given that such thoughts arose between pieces, I really think where this book fails most severely is not having a single unifying through-line (aside from, of course, what if Doctor Who was in Shakespeare?).
Though it could be written off at first glance as being pretty cheesy, I think that this book would have been vastly improved if all of the Doctor insertions were in the service of a larger plot, the shape of which could be seen through the ways in which the Doctor was added to the plays and ultimately answering "why?" with more than "just because." Plus, it's my theory that an earlier draft of such a plot existed since the final piece involving an idea-storing bed that Shakespeare left the Doctor could have been an awesome Macguffin, and the piece itself would have made an excellent final scene.
Anyway, despite all the words I've spent on this review, I can't really recommend this book. Maybe it just wasn't for me and a younger fan of Shakespeare and Doctor Who would adore it, but it just left me feeling like these two icons of British pop culture could be so much better brought together.
June 8, 2020
I won't be the first to say "I really wanted to like this book"... and I'm certainly won't be the last. Which is quite disappointing as the idea behind that book is both clever and hilarious, but the execution is uneven and even it's ideal readers (Whovians with a working knowledge of Shakespeare plays or Shakespearean experts with an ear for pop culture) will certanly find plenty bones of contention here. While Shakespeare's appearance in the third season of the revived series was a hightlight of the Russell T. Davies-era, this book doesn't quite match the magic of that episode. Although some of the sections actually manage to be both faithfull to the original text and the characters from the show (both from classic and new Who.... a much welcome move, since there are too many fans from both sides of the spectrum who despise the era that doesn't happen to be their favorite), some of the new versions dumb down Shakespeare's style to help the jokes and references to the show land... and, in spite of that, it doesn't always work. Nevertheless, some sections are actually quite successful, such as Macbeth (the 2nd Doctor, Jamie and Zoe as the three witches works remarkably well), Anthony Ainley's incarnation of the Master trying to allure Christopher Marlowe into one of his world domination schemes (which of course is a wink to the perennial discussion on the "true" identity of Shakespeare), the Sonnets section (in which references to the show finally find a perfect balance with the recreation of Shakespeare's style), and the Academic Notes section (a clever multi-Doctor short story).
July 13, 2017
“Doctor Who: The Shakespeare Notebooks”
by Justin Richards (Editor), James Goss, Jonathan Morris, Matthew Sweet, William Shakespeare, Mike Collins (illustrator) (London: Random, 2014)
Brilliant and clever. However if the reader is not familiar with “classic” Doctor Who characters nor with Shakespeare's material then it won't have the full impact.
“Shakespeare seems to have become somewhat obsessed with the enigmatic 'doctor' to whom he refers. Within the Notebooks this figure seems to appear in various guises – as magician, physician, academic, colleague and friend, and in some extracts merely as 'the Man' or 'He'.” (p2-3)
[Hamlet]
“The magician appears in a strange blue box announced by all the sounds of hell itself. Yes, that could work. Magician wears exotic apparel – a knotted bow of ribbon at his neck, for instance.
Perhaps like this:
{A blue box doth appear and Magician enters from box.}” (p8-9)
“The cosmos is a stage,
And all, from thou to Fenric, merely players:
We have our exits and entrances;
But Time Lords are required to play the greater part ...” (p11)
“Friends, Daleks, Cybermen…” (p51)
“To reverse or not to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow?” (p104)
“That which we call a Rose by any other name would still be Tyler.” (p109)
“Is this a Dalek I see before me?” (p131)
by Justin Richards (Editor), James Goss, Jonathan Morris, Matthew Sweet, William Shakespeare, Mike Collins (illustrator) (London: Random, 2014)
Brilliant and clever. However if the reader is not familiar with “classic” Doctor Who characters nor with Shakespeare's material then it won't have the full impact.
“Shakespeare seems to have become somewhat obsessed with the enigmatic 'doctor' to whom he refers. Within the Notebooks this figure seems to appear in various guises – as magician, physician, academic, colleague and friend, and in some extracts merely as 'the Man' or 'He'.” (p2-3)
[Hamlet]
“The magician appears in a strange blue box announced by all the sounds of hell itself. Yes, that could work. Magician wears exotic apparel – a knotted bow of ribbon at his neck, for instance.
Perhaps like this:
{A blue box doth appear and Magician enters from box.}” (p8-9)
“The cosmos is a stage,
And all, from thou to Fenric, merely players:
We have our exits and entrances;
But Time Lords are required to play the greater part ...” (p11)
“Friends, Daleks, Cybermen…” (p51)
“To reverse or not to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow?” (p104)
“That which we call a Rose by any other name would still be Tyler.” (p109)
“Is this a Dalek I see before me?” (p131)
July 8, 2023
I can’t imagine the amount of effort that went into writing this. To imitate Shakespeare’s writing, bring in a fantasy element and hark back to the Doctor and all the adventures he tends to bring with him, wrapped up in Shakespeare’s sonnets, plays and tales? And make it entertaining? It was executed so well.
It was so inventive and cleverly written. Taking the plays we’re all familiar with and adding a different spin on it. What a brilliant idea! From an alternative (and more comedic ending) to Romeo and Juliet, the doctor faced with putting the story of Macbeth back on track, a masterful meeting with Christopher Marlowe and want to find out what happens to Shakespeare’s bed? Read on!
It was a struggle to give stars to this one because it’s so utterly different from anything you’d normally read. It was a 4 I’d say for it’s creativity and the ‘different’ factor this brings when reading but it was hard going at times (as someone who doesn’t read Shakespeare all that regularly..!) hence the 3. Id probably a solid 3.76. It is such a fantastic concept for a book and a must for all lovers of doctor who and the great bard.
It was so inventive and cleverly written. Taking the plays we’re all familiar with and adding a different spin on it. What a brilliant idea! From an alternative (and more comedic ending) to Romeo and Juliet, the doctor faced with putting the story of Macbeth back on track, a masterful meeting with Christopher Marlowe and want to find out what happens to Shakespeare’s bed? Read on!
It was a struggle to give stars to this one because it’s so utterly different from anything you’d normally read. It was a 4 I’d say for it’s creativity and the ‘different’ factor this brings when reading but it was hard going at times (as someone who doesn’t read Shakespeare all that regularly..!) hence the 3. Id probably a solid 3.76. It is such a fantastic concept for a book and a must for all lovers of doctor who and the great bard.
September 14, 2017
I don't usually read this kind of mash-up; when you deconstruct one form of literature with another, your readers have to be conversant in both. I never read "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" because I hadn't read "Pride & Prejudice" and most of the references would have gone over my head.
On the other hand, I have read a little Shakespeare...
I remember thinking as I read "Pride & Prejudice" that there was nothing wrong with it that a zombie apocalypse wouldn't have corrected. Reading this book's take on Macbeth, it was striking how fitting the setting was for a Second Doctor adventure. The TARDIS flits in and out of fair Verona, Sontarans stage the defeat of the Rutans at Fang Rock, and we find out what happened to "Cardenio." Exit, pursued by a Dalek.
Seriously, you have got to see this thing.
On the other hand, I have read a little Shakespeare...
I remember thinking as I read "Pride & Prejudice" that there was nothing wrong with it that a zombie apocalypse wouldn't have corrected. Reading this book's take on Macbeth, it was striking how fitting the setting was for a Second Doctor adventure. The TARDIS flits in and out of fair Verona, Sontarans stage the defeat of the Rutans at Fang Rock, and we find out what happened to "Cardenio." Exit, pursued by a Dalek.
Seriously, you have got to see this thing.
May 23, 2017
If you look at the title of this book and then look at my contact photo, you will see a subtle similarity. Can you catch it, if you can't.... well. I saw this book and knew that I had to get my hands on it. However, it was a bit of a disappointment since Doctor Who is obviously one of my favorite shows.
There is not much to explain about the rating other than that it wasn't that good.
One thing that I was really confused about was if Shakespeare was writing the Doctor into his plays or if the The Doctor was avtually interacing with the actual characters. It was a good idea no matter that however it was not well executed either way.
There is not much to explain about the rating other than that it wasn't that good.
One thing that I was really confused about was if Shakespeare was writing the Doctor into his plays or if the The Doctor was avtually interacing with the actual characters. It was a good idea no matter that however it was not well executed either way.
October 24, 2022
I’m not quite sure how this book even exists. I had quite a laugh when I found it in an op-shop. It was in the classics section, nestled in with second hand copies of truer Shakespeare plays.
It was fun to start with, I’m a fan of Doctor Who and I enjoy Shakespeare well enough, but not well enough for this it seems. How many people are there out there that would truly love this?
It also just feels a little strange to me to insert so much of the doctor into so many plays. I don’t know. It was fun the first couple of times.
Three stars feels generous but I really feel no hate towards this. More confused disappointment.
It was fun to start with, I’m a fan of Doctor Who and I enjoy Shakespeare well enough, but not well enough for this it seems. How many people are there out there that would truly love this?
It also just feels a little strange to me to insert so much of the doctor into so many plays. I don’t know. It was fun the first couple of times.
Three stars feels generous but I really feel no hate towards this. More confused disappointment.
March 8, 2020
Loved every minute of it. It’s the perfect combination of Shakespeare and Doctor Who. Of course, the Doctor can’t stay a way from a genius like Shakespeare.
The extracts fr the various plays are awesomely written. They feel like written by the Bard himself. I especially liked Macbeth. I was missing Much Ado though. Would’ve been hilarious to have 10 and Donna be Benedick and Beatrice through some kind of shenanigans 😄 but alas, no such luck.
Still enjoyed it very much and I cannot wait to use it with my students 😊
The extracts fr the various plays are awesomely written. They feel like written by the Bard himself. I especially liked Macbeth. I was missing Much Ado though. Would’ve been hilarious to have 10 and Donna be Benedick and Beatrice through some kind of shenanigans 😄 but alas, no such luck.
Still enjoyed it very much and I cannot wait to use it with my students 😊
December 4, 2022
Doctor Who: The Shakespeare Notebooks is a fun blend of the time-travelling doctor and the immortal bard. Shakespeare's notebooks are filled with alternate versions of his plays, scenes, and sonnets that differ from the classic final versions of the works as we know them today. These alternate versions contain frequent anachronisms, curious references, and frequent mentions of a mysterious blue cabinet.
A deeper knowledge of Doctor Who and Shakespeare may have enhanced and deepened my enjoyment of this book, but as it is it was a fun, brisk, imaginative and amusing read.
A deeper knowledge of Doctor Who and Shakespeare may have enhanced and deepened my enjoyment of this book, but as it is it was a fun, brisk, imaginative and amusing read.
February 18, 2018
I enjoyed this. I admit I enjoyed some part more than others. I also suspect some of the jokes went over my head as I have not seen all of the original series, and my knowledge of the history surrounding certain of the plays is limited.
However I knew enough about both to recognise the brilliance and subtlety that went into some of the jokes, which allowed me to appreciate that there were more I missed.
A but of fun, but don't expect to enjoy every page.
However I knew enough about both to recognise the brilliance and subtlety that went into some of the jokes, which allowed me to appreciate that there were more I missed.
A but of fun, but don't expect to enjoy every page.
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